Govinda had once said that Salman Khan asked him to not do Judwaa (1997) and give the lead role to him, even after the shooting for the film had commenced. Now, a clip from Govinda's 2019 interview with told Bollywood Hungama has surfaced on Reddit and is attracting lots of reactions. 

What Govinda said about Salman Khan

Govinda had said in the interview, “Uss time pe main Judwaa kar raha tha aur kisi din Salman ne mujhe phone lagaya, 2-3 baje, aur kaha ki ‘Chichi Bhaiya aap kitni hit doge yaar?’ Maine bola kya hua? Woh bola ‘Woh jo picture aap kar rahe ho, Judwaa, woh aap band kar dijiye aur woh mujhe de dijiye (Govinda brother, how many hit films will you give? When I asked him what happened, Salman said ‘The movie you are working on, Judwaa, stop filming for it and let me do your role’)."

The actor added, "(Salman said) Director (David Dhawan) bhi aapko mujhe dena padega. Producer (Sajid Nadiadwala) bhi maine aap hi ka le liya hai’. Toh woh chalti film, wahan pe thehra di gayi hai, rok di gayi aur bandh kar di gayi. Aur woh Salman ko de di gayi thi (Salman said he will work with the same director and producer. So the film was stopped midway and my role was given to Salman).”

Reactions to Govinda's claims

Reacting to the resurfaced video of Govinda's old interview on Reddit, a person said, "Bhoi (Salman) isn't the best human out there, but Govinda has made some very weird claims in the past including being offered Avatar. His 'woe is me' attitude has been quite apparent for some time. He would rather blame others than admit his downfall was due to unprofessional behaviour, superstitions, and not being able to move with the times."

Another asked, "Didn't Govinda praise Salman for casting him in Partner (2007) when no one else wanted to work with him?" A comment also read, "Salman literally helped him with his comeback with Partner. Govinda is an opportunist."

A person also wrote, "Salman is trash, but isn't Govinda the same dude who used to lick Salman's a** and got angry because he launched Athiya Shetty (With the 2015 movie Hero) instead of his daughter (Tina Ahuja). Suddenly, he started bad-mouthing people. The dude even spoke trash about David Dhawan, who gave him the biggest hits of his career."

Govinda and David are among Bollywood's most iconic director-actor duos, and together, they have given several blockbuster films. However, their partnership allegedly soured when David opted to cast Rishi Kapoor instead of Govinda in Chashme Baddoor (2013).

About Judwaa

Salman Khan had double roles in the popular Hindi film: he was seen as Raja and Prem Malhotra. Karisma Kapoor and Rambha were paired opposite Salman. The film was directed by David Dhawan and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. Judwaa was the first film of David and Salman together. It was released in February 1997. It was a remake of the 1994 Telugu film, Hello Brother, starring Nagarjuna, Ramya Krishnan, and Soundarya.

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